Marino's disappointments in Mosport were forgotten here in Mid Ohio this afternoon. LMPC qualifying could not have been closer, with just over half a second separating the top five cars in the LMPC category, it was Marino who put the PR1 Motorsports #52 Oreca FLM09 car on pole with a lap of 1:15.107.

The competition was fierce. The spec category comprises seven cars each with one professional driver teamed with an amateur co-driver, and looking at the professional driver line-up during qualifying it was Marino against 2012 Daytona 24 Hours winner, and fellow Scot, Ryan Dalziel, as well as former NASCAR specialist, Colin Braun and Bruno Junqueira the former Wlliams Formula One test driver and IndyCar star, to name but three. With lap times in the 15 minute session tumbling lap after lap Marino steadily rose up the LMPC grid, and on his penultimate qualifying lap he jumped from fourth into pole position with a lap of 1:15.385. However, not contented, and "just to be sure", Marino's last lap simply reinforced his dominance by going nearly three-tenths of a second quicker.

"After all the hard work the PR1 Motorsports team have done in the last week following the disappointment of Mosport, I'm just so pleased I could put the car on pole for them. The team were keeping me informed over the radio of how close it was at the top, and when they told me I was on pole but the other cars were still on fast laps, I just dug deep", said Marino.

The 2hr 45min race starts at 1.05pm local time tomorrow, and with the threat of rain looming it could bring an extra element of added excitement!